


Hollow knight: Kinseeker 2

by Solgaleo35



Series: Kinseeker [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23672668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solgaleo35/pseuds/Solgaleo35
Summary: 20 years after the radiance was slain, Darner, the head guard of hallownest, has a vision of the shadelord returning and destroying hallownest and must travel across the land to stop it.
Series: Kinseeker [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704544
Kudos: 8





	1. Requiem for a Kin

1 year remains

20 years later...

Darner stood in front of the pale king, awaiting his orders. 6 days ago some creature had been sighted in dirtmouth. every day, darner sent out some of his loyal sentries, never to return. fears mounted as darner began to breathe heavily. He was next on the chopping block for this suicide mission. He knew the words that would come out of the pale kings mouth and, sure enough, they did. he was told to head up to dirtmouth to investigate what it was up there. he hadnt felt like this since the infection many many years ago. he gathered up the rest of his sentries and headed up there. upon his arrival he sighted nothing other than a strange, whispy being of blackness with 4 pale white eyes. "the wyrm. bring him and him alone" it said in a strange tone. darner rejected and asked what the creature wanted him for. the abyssal incarnation responded by grabbing him and his sentries with its inky tentacles. the earth swallowed the sentries as they were dragged down to their demise, leaving only darner. "bring me the wyrm" it groaned at him. "okay, i will summon the wyrm and bring him here." darner said and began to walk away before quickly doubling back and lashing out at the creature. "here it is" he shouted. the limbs snaked around as darner ducked and weaved. he blocked with his shield and slashed back with his nail. the struggle was intense but the blackness eventually won out, coiling around him. darner had become a fragment of some hivemind. he felt supressed and barely concious. He had no control over the body that was once his, like he was only a single fragment of his own self. how is this possible? He could sense feeling in his arms and legs and wings and tail but he possessed the influence of a single cell in the body of an organism. His body a kingdom, he was none but the lowliest beggar on the streets of the capitol. Hours, maybe days passed as he sat there entombed within his own body until finally the pale king himself approached the abyssal mass. He seemed astonished to see Darner and looked to be under the impression that it was the guard he had once known rather than a captor that had took on his body. The king inquired what had happened to darner and the dragonfly attempted to cry out with all his might but to no avail. The jet black tendrils ensnared the monarch. “Who are you and what have you done to darner?” He asked defiantly, to which the husk of the head sentry replied “oh, you poor, pitiful creature. You see, I asked a simple question of him, and he adamantly refused. Or, more accurately, he lied. And so, I showed him what we do to foolish bugs like himself. Shame too, he would’ve been good on my side, but I don’t let anyone get away with that. Now, I am offering you the chance to settle this with some diplomacy. Give me king and queen all those with souls of root and wyrm and I might consider leaving you alone, as foolish of a decision as that is. Sacrifice yourself, your queen, your princess, and all the vessels and your pitiful kingdom shall live. You have one week to surrender your soul and the souls of those I desire before I decimate the your kingdom.” The creature growled, and with that he let the king go free to consider his options. The large mass centred within darners body called out one more, telling him of the date on which he needed to have made his decision by.

Darner awoke in his cushy bed, laying safely below the covers. He knew what had happened.   
It was no mere dream  
It was a vision  
And worse, the date mentioned was only one year away.


	2. Lingering on a Vision

Darner awoke to a shaking accompanied by a small voice calling his name. A slit of light came in through his squinted eyes as he opened them ever so slowly and softly, smiling at Meadowhawk, who was standing at his bedside. “I-I was trying to make a beetle egg scramble but the mixing bowl broke while I was scrambling it and it got everywhere.” Meadowhawk said, his cloak spotted with splotches of the breakfast he was trying to make before it went awry. He was now a fully realized vessel with a tall, lanky build like that of the pure vessel. Asper, now a fully grown aspid hunter, clumsily flew into the room, looking to have gorged himself on scraps from the attempted meal. “Well, look on the bright side. Spilled food always makes the tastiest smelling messes. And, we’ll work up a bit of an appetite too. I’ll be over there to help you in a little bit.” Darner said, giggling. Meadowhawk ran out of the room as Darner sat up, rubbed his eyes and stretched. He had seldom changed in the many years, despite him now being 120 years old. This was an elderly age for most bugs, but was still quite young for a wyrm, which could live to be 300 according to legend. 20 years felt more like 5 for him. His smile was merely meant as a facade to veil his unrest, at least until he could meet with the pale king to discuss his vision. 

After finishing breakfast, Meadowhawk and Darner headed out to the barracks attached to their house. Darner headed to the door to do and alert the pale king but was stopped by Meadowhawk, who asked him where he was going. Darner told him that he needed to alert the pale king about something. “Okay, just make sure you’re back before guard practice begins.” He said. Darner walked out the door and into the damp air of hallownest a capital. The rain fell as it always did, but it seemed to have a different feel to it. He walked through the city, anguishing about the dream he had. What would they do? Accept their losses and sacrifice himself, the king, the queen, hornet and all the vessels to the ultimate god for a chance at survival or fight back? The choice was difficult to say the least. Bystanders obviously could see his panicked face even as he tried to hide it behind a calm and collected mask. He walked through the rainy capital quickly, his feet splashing water that pooled in puddles. The city of tears had changed greatly in the twenty years that had gone by. Towers shot up towards the rocky roof of the cavern.   
There were many new places that had been constructed in the city as the years went by, and time was kind to some but not all. Darner made his way down to the kings station as silent as he could muster the courage to be. He summoned one of the stags and set off through corridors of stone towards hidden station until finally, he managed to reach the white palace. He walked through the gates and doors and travelled halls of smooth white stone until he reached the pale kings throne room. There, he sat with his mighty aura. Darner stood before the pale wyrm as he spoke “Hello darner. What brings you here this fine morning? You evidently appear flustered. What may the woes be that burden you?” He spoke. “I-I had a vision of the future, one year away.” Darner replied. “Do tell” the pale king said inquisitively. Darner explained every last detail and watch the kings expression change spectacularly quickly. Fear rippled through his face as it all came to him that destruction was imminent. He asked many questions as Darner explained what he saw. Neither knew how to handle such a situation. Once he calmed down, he spoke once again to darner. “That sounds disastrous. We need to make plan and decide what to do. But first, let us go to the amber ambrosia cafe. We can better strategize with after breakfast. 

Darner informed the queen about the vision and told her of the pale kings plans. The king and queen got into disguises and the three headed off to the popular cafe to speak of the destruction foretold in dreams. “I’ve had plenty of nightmares recently. There was the one where you were caught by the flukes, I’ve had a recurring one where I’m trapped in this weird, nonsensical maze, I even had one just before my vision where dryya was secretly alive but had been living a miserable life as a slave to the mantis traitors for 30-35 years, super depressing. It would put a sour taste to my day were it not so severely overshadowed. This, however, just didn’t feel at all like a dream. It’s one of those things where there are no words to describe it, you just know.” Said darner, sitting back in the metal chair. The white lady and pale king were both decked out head to toe in disguises. Nobody could tell who they were by sight as they looked completely different. The king wore a tall hat and a silken red cloak while the queen wore a blue dress along with a fake shell on her back, 6 fake legs on her front and a pair of horns on her head to lend herself the appearance of a beetle. Darner took a sip of his foamy coffee and began to tuck into one of the 3 small, delicate cakes on his plate. He got the occasional wave from some of the bugs milling through the bakery but none of the subjects noticed their rulers hiding amongst them. Interspersed within the friendly greetings were a few questions as to the identity of the mysterious strangers darner was sat with, to which he replied that they were witnesses that he had taken in for questioning. “I... I just don’t know who I’d leave hallownest in the hands of were You, I, hornet and the vessels were to be sacrificed.” Said the pale king, sounding worried out of his mind. “Darner, if we trusted you, I know we would be leaving hallownest in good hands.” Said the white lady. “I disagree, and besides, I am likely to follow in your same path.” Replied darner. “I just don’t want to doom hornet and the vessels to a fate they have no decision in...” Said the pale king. “But the only other option is to allow the kingdom to fall to the lord of shades.” Replied the queen, evidently flustered. “I-I just don’t know what to do. Our only options are to sacrifice ourselves and let the kingdom go without a ruler or to allow the kingdom to be decimated by a god so unimaginably powerful. We can’t fight back at all, the shade lord makes the radiance look like a mere fluke larva. I know darner is powerful but even you can’t possibly hold it off.” Said the pale king. Just then, an idea came to darners head. “What if we forged alliances with other kingdoms? I know crestmound would be more then willing to help our cause and there are many more that might follow.” Said darner. “But, if we lose, wouldn’t we be dooming others to the same fate?” Asked the white lady. “It’s the only chance we have.” Said the pale king. “Then it’s settled.” Said the white lady.


	3. Shadows brewing

11 months remain

1 month later...

Darner stood in front of the sentries for the final roll call before they all headed off. Darner read his notes for the announcements he planned to make for all the loyal troops. “Firstly” Darner recited “I’d like to briefly talk with those of you who signed up for the experimental tools program next meeting. I’m happy to try such an exciting new project and who knows, we might even discover something extremely innovative. Second of all, We’re going to fit in a new criminal mind program for you to study. Don’t worry, I haven’t increased your workload, rather you’ll find that I’ve shaved off some of the load for everyone’s favourite course and replaced it with some arguably more interesting assignments about some of the trends with criminals. Now, lastly, I’m sure that many of you know that in a little over a week the king, queen and I will be heading across the wasteland to rally the support of other kingdoms. I’ll be leaving Meadowhawk in charge for the time being. I trust you already even in bad hands but in such good hands I know everything will be great.”

The city grounds gently howled with small gusts of wind as sheets of rain lashed at darners shell. The great stone ceiling above dripped with clear water pure like no other lake in the kingdom could provide. Sounds of life drifted through the rocky walls as they echoed around. He walked by a cafe, quite busy with bugs. The outdoor patio was sheltered from the rain and yet there seemed to be rust. Disdainful groans emanated from the twisted cast iron frame. A diverse cast of insects sat in the chairs, from a group of shabby-robed bugs to some dressed in finer gowns. Darner hoped that it would remain this way after the battle. He stepped along the intricate masonry, sloshing through the puddles as he made his way across the grounds to the castle. He needed to help them prepare to travel. There had not been an endeavour like this in the history of hallownest, and their absences would bring peril. Darner walked into a small shop on his way to the palace. “A bubble tea, snail sandwich with grub fries and a donut” Darner said as he walked up to the counter and pulled out some geo. “Oh- and I’ll get a bowl of slug noodle soup, beetle egg buns, a centipede wrap, scorpion ramen, a mixed but sandwich and some mixed berry tarts and a flywing coffee. Can’t forget to bring some for the royal family. Hornet loves those beetle egg buns. She scarfs them right down.” Darner hastily added. As he had iterated, he was to also bring something for the pale king, the white lady, hornet and the pure vessel. Darner sat down to wait for his order to be prepared as Sterling walked in, placed an order, and came over to darners table. “Hey, mind if I sit here, Darner?” He asked as Darner obliged to his request. “Popular place, isn’t it? I’m getting ready to help out Meadowhawk with the classes. How is he doing?” The sentry asked. “He’s doing pretty well off. I feel quite guilty for not being there but I’m going to be accompanying the king and need to prepare for our long outing into the wilds. He’s been training real hard and has been putting a lot of time into getting every little thing down pat. Shining his shell, tailoring his cloak, polishing his nail. He’s really serious about this. I’m really proud of him, he’s constantly improving his amazing technique so much he might be getting better then me. How’ve things been with you?” Darner replied. “Pretty good. I did have a nightmare last night. It was about the soul sanctum. So disturbing and regretful, that place. I hear there was so many delays to the demolition of that place because of how horrific that place was. Not to mention how they deceived you into thinking they were being perfectly okay and not kidnapping and abusing thousands of bugs. I was the only one who knew and they managed to use every manipulation technique in the book to convince you I was deluded. They even tried to take me. Crazy stuff.” Said sterling. “Yeah, it was absurdly cruel, but somehow people manage to shut me down when I speak about it. Apparently people who would normally have been horrible to vessels now care so deeply about them. It’s just insane.” Darner responded. “Well, people will always find some little way that we are the horrible people. That one time those minute pirates from the robberflies gang held up crystal peak, people said that somehow we were in the wrong for rescuing tons of hostages.” Sterling spoke. “Right. I mean, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t accept criticism, but someone could cut the queens head off and sell it on the black market and there would still be some people defending them.” Darner said back. “She deserved it because she was maybe possibly allegedly rude at a cafe one time according to a friends friends friends grandfathers cousin making you tyrannical monsters for punishing them.” Replied Sterling in a mocking voice before breaking out in laughter, Darner quick to join him. The bug at the counter then called darners order. The wyrm said his goodbyes, grabbed the meal and set off through the gentle roar of the rain that fell all across the city of tears. 

Darner walked through the doors to the castle. Retainers bowed their heads as Darner walked past, toting the bag he got from the cafe. He walked through the halls until reaching the main hall. Where The pale king, the queen, hornet and the pure vessel stood. They turned around to greet him as he smiled and set the brown paper bags down and reached in to grab the cardboard boxes inside so he could hand them off to their recipients. The ever attentive servants of the lord pale took the boxes so they could carry them down to the dining hall. As Darner greeted them and recounted his training that day, the group gathered together to make their way to eat. They traipsed down the corridors on their way to the dining hall. Darner walked down the hall before stopping in front of the void lab. The door was cracked open, allowing light to spill in. Darner went inside to see signs of obvious tampering. Objects moved or missing, things that weren’t there before. Someone had been in here. Then, something caught the guards eye. He took a glance at what it was and saw two vessel skulls laying there. He reached for one of them, attempting to probe deeper. His hand just lightly grasped the shell when he felt a strong jolt run through him. His grip tightened on the empty shell as his vision flushed and a thunderous howl assaulted his ears. Images began to flood his mind, disturbing images of suffering. Visions of himself and those close to him flashed through his sight. The pale king covered in a thick layer of blood, hornet impaled by abyssal spikes, the hollow knight in agony and pain, the beaten figure of the queen sobbing, darner being torn apart, vessels chained up and mutilated. They were all so vivid. Accompanying them were chants. “You are worthless. Your pain is our healing. Every moment of joy is agony to the world. You shall watch happiness flow freely as you sink into the shadows.” They said in a harsh whisper. Darner finally released his grasp on the mask and staggered backwards. He stumbled away as his hands smashed against a desk, getting bruised. Darner fell to the floor as a strange instrument fell on top of him, scraping him along his belly before adding to the crash. The clattering came to a halt and was replaced with quick footsteps. The pale king, hornet and a pair of retainers hastily stepped into the room to witness darner laying in a heap. “The door was open. I came to check for tampering and saw a pair of vessel skulls laying there. I-I picked one up and got horrific visions. It must be cursed somehow.” Darner stammered. Darner pointed towards the masks as the king looked closer. He reached for one of them as Darner tried to warn him to no avail. He fell into a sudden trance and softly spoke fearful words. “Drag... down... irredeemable... prison... eternal... suffer...” After a short while he once again was released. He staggered backwards, almost tripping had darner not scrambled to stop him falling over one of the desks strewn about the place. The other three entered the room, having not noticed that they had trailed off for a small while. “What happened!?” The queen exclaimed in dismay. Darner got back up and explained what had happened as they left the old laboratory on their way to the dining hall. 

that night...

A retainer walked down the dark hallways of the white palace, his footsteps silently echoing through the night. He walked into the old void lab to meet another bug, holding one of the vessel skulls. “Shit, they found them.” Exclaimed the one already in the lab. “You left them in here before they left? Are you fucking insane?” Said the royal retainer. “Well, you underestimate how pathetic wyrms are, and don’t even get me started on how utterly stupid dragonflies can be.” Said the one holding the skulls. “Yeah, the guard may be incredibly moronic, but he is very good at catching those he considers criminals.” The retainer said back in a harsh whisper. “Well, they’ll be gone soon, only one of those coward weavers and a few empties left. There’s basically nothing that can get in our way.” Replied the other bug.


	4. Chapter 4: Sickly Premonition

3 weeks later

11 months remain 

While they would surely be missed, they were sent off with great celebration. It began with a banquet where all of hallownest was invited, and the night after a private party for the pale court was held at the pleasure house. On their day of departure, the lands just outside dirtmouth were the grounds of a festival. While much preparation was due for the impending battle, taking a load off all their shoulders would surely help. Doom and gloom all the time could not do a bug any good, so dwelling on the future should be kept in its time and place while they all relax every now and then. It does wonders for the kingdoms productivity. Darner couldn’t remember the last time he had partied like this. The last festival he was unable to attend due to an accident. He delivered the message to the lord fool only to be entered into the trial against his will and had to fend off wave after wave of challengers. He could handle one or two trials in a row, but eventually his stamina wore thin and he took quite the beating. He was glad that he could attend these festivities though, although he couldn’t party as hard and as late as he’d have liked to so he could have the energy to deliver a few speeches to the sea of bugs that crowded around. It was their last day of being there for a few months, so it was a special enough occasion for them to go all out. A mob of insects of all different types spilled across the landscape dotted with stalls of all kinds. There was food, art, games, shopping and everything else. Special shops sold kings idol, various different replicas of the many different seals of hallownest and the pale court and many more trinkets of the pale king and his circle. Many thought these helped give them peace of mind. Darner had to oversee the making of these replicas closely to make sure they were out of the realm of forgeries. The quick inspections would likely save him a lot of time in the long run. Up on the stage he seemed nervous, with every second feeling like the longest second he had experienced in his life, or rather in recent time, as the minutes slowed to a crawl as the world went whizzing by fairly often in the heat of the moment. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. He wasn’t shy, not one bit, but this time was very unlike any other he had experienced before. Everyone’s eyes were on him, expecting peace of mind, words to fall back on between the quest to rally support and the impending doomsday. Between the speeches, he could finally relax a bit and unwind at the festivities, although not without being acknowledged by others as was to be expected for him. 

Meadowhawk walked through the grid of stalls. The vessel walked amongst the stands in search of string, his friend. He had told him that he would be there by now. Meadowhawk glanced over to an empty table nearby to see his friends trademark hat sitting there beside a pair of drinks and a bag. He drew closer to see 2 bottles of royal lemonade bubble tea and a bag of chilli spiced popcorn, some of their favourite treats. One of the bubble lemonades was labeled “string” and the other along with the bag of popcorn were labelled “Meadowhawk”. The sentry sat down and took a bite of the snacks. “This tastes strange.” He thought, unable to produce anything else before...

He woke up to silence. The entire festival had disappeared with no trace. He ran to the gate to hallownest and up the stairway into crystal peak. To his horror, it was full of infection. How could this be? He ran through the corridors, still empty and void of life, looking for answers as to what had happened. What had become of the kingdom? How had the radiance returned? He remembered seeing what happened 20 years before. The plains of the wasteland littered with the souls of those lost to the infection sealed her within darners blade. Had she escaped? And where had everyone and everything gone? The child of the void ran through the tunnels before stopping as a few sounds echoed through the walls. Footsteps trailed him as a harsh buzzing flitted between stalactites. He circled around as the shape revealed itself to be a horrifying creature covered in tendrils. It jumped from the cavern ceiling and pounced on Meadowhawk, pinning him down. It extended a long, orange proboscis into his arm while muttering in a strange language. It pricked his soft void body and could be felt excreting a substance into his forelimb. He shook as he began to worry that he was being infected. How had everything gone so so wrong? It started as an exciting day and now he was going to become a mindless slave to a hivemind. Or had it all been a dream? Had the past 20 years he had lived out been some strange vision he had as he lay dormant? Were darner, the king, string, all of them all dead? If they were, he would soon join them, hopefully. He would rather die then become a slave to the radiance’s hivemind. Meadowhawks fear soon faded, however, as the shape of the creature faded to reveal that it was merely darner, holding a syringe from his emergency first aid kit to the vessels arm. “It’s alright, don’t worry...” he whispered to his disciple. He asked what had happened to Meadowhawk, to which he explained the events that had led up to that moment. “I think someone must’ve slipped something in strings food and drinks. Luckily I keep a neutralizer on me for events like this. Make sure you don’t leave anything unattended.” Said darner. “Thanks. The hallucinations were terrifying. You looked like some strange beast. I was mortified. I’ve seen husks do some very weird things. Things I don’t even want to mention. They’d do horrible things to eachother and to the uninfected.” Replied Meadowhawk. The king came running up to the pair who were on the floor of the cave. He inquired what had happened and darner explained how it seemed that he had somehow been drugged with something that was slipped into an unnatended bubble tea lemonade and popcorn. “Don’t worry, I shall make sure the perpetrator is apprehended and punished to the full extent of our laws. Their fate shall lie in the hands of darner, the judicator Argustus and I.” Said the king said to Meadowhawk. “It’s alright. The festival is still ongoing. I’ll get you a new bag of deluxe chilli spiced popcorn and royal bubble lemonade.” Added darner, reassuringly. “Wait, you said strings hat was at the table? I don’t remember seeing a cap when I passed by there...” the pale king said. They heard a yell and some footsteps as they stood up and looked around. Over came ceko, a ladybug who worked at the teachers archives uncovering artifacts to preserve hallownest’s legacy. He originally arrived during the dark age, as it was often called, thinking hallownest a dead kingdom full of riches for plundering. Like many other enterprising raiders, he became entangled in the infection, awakening many years later to see the kingdom had once again arisen to flourish. Some had given him a bad reputation due to some strange and horrible things the radiance has forced him to commit, but most were fine with him. Just as many came out of the infection with a criminal record and soiled reputation as did those who bore the scars of victimhood. “Darner, I wanted to talk to you. Bluet is gone. We were trying to restore the large kings idol in greenpath and she was supposed to meet me there for archival purposes but she never came. I went to the archives to ask if anyone had seen her and apparently she hadn’t shown up for over a week, and anyone they asked hadn’t seen her. Apparently they found a bunch of old mining golem parts and even a few crystallized bugs, which was a really important discovery, and she never showed. It’s not like her to forget an event like that. You think you can have your sentries look into it?” The beetle said. “I’ll have them look into it. Thanks for telling me.” Darner replied. “Oh yeah, and tomorrow we’re going to be digging for your 40 year old clothes. Make sure to be there” he said, laughing. 

After hours of celebrating, it was time for them to head off. The whole kingdom roared with applause and goodbyes to the group that was heading off on their long, long journey. The carriage they would be travelling in was spacious, with two floors. Even then, they would have to make sacrifices, as the four of them would have to share a room for the journey. Many thought that wasn’t particularly a bad thing in darners case though. To share a room with the esteemed royals was of the upmost pleasure for anyone, even though darner had been serving them for some 120 years at that point. He’d been there for most of hallownest’s history. He’d heard the mockery of the king dubbing the kingdom eternal years ago. Everlasting life did not always mean that the one blessed with it would never fall, but that the one who possesses it may get back up again. Darner would be bunking with Argustus while the king and queen would sleep together. Darner had heard whispers that he dreamt of killing everyone, of slaying darner. Apparently it was some form of stress relief. It was oddly contrary to his waking behaviour, however. Despite clashing personalities, he seemed to genuinely care for darner. Even back during the infection and it’s aftermath when he lost his loyalty to the king, his for darner never seemed to falter. The group of four entered and prepared to ride for the remainder of the day before stopping to doze off. 

The pale king entered the library of the white palace. There stood the queen alongside the pure vessel, preparing for another day of teaching. He sat down for only a moment before blur happened in front of his eyes. He could see nothing as time warped before him and his vision churned into a haze. His memory could not hold on to the record of the events long enough to process them and his mind began to overload. The pure vessel ensnared him and began caressing him all over. He tried to fight it off but nothing worked. The queen sat there, horrified at the scene that was unfolding before her. Quickly, she tried to lash out with all her might to relinquish the vessels grip. She unleashed a ball of soul from her hands and dug her roots into the ground where they burst up from below the void constructs feet. The pure knight worked its inky shadows into the wyrms every nook and cranny, the shadows consuming all of him. He meekly cried out before the vessel let him drop to the ground. The king left laying defenceless on the ground, the large bug set his sights on his root. He grabbed his mother with the strands of pure darkness and wrapped them around her. The king was helpless, he couldn’t do anything. The darkness began to absorb her as he lay there, beaten. “I’ll come for you later. Mark my words, it won’t end well. Meanwhile, I’ll have a little fun with her. Make sure to prepare the kingdom for your untimely demise before I get back.” The void being said. “I may have been the one who was created to be empty, but you are the mindless one. Driven only by your selfish desires. Not one bug in this wretched kingdom cares for you. Remember that. Oh yeah, and don’t think you can get anyone to help you, either. I’ve handled them.” And with that, he vanished. Not a trace of his beloved root anywhere, just him and his own looming fear of what would come to destroy him in due time. The doors burst open behind him as a pair of sentries ran in, frantic as he had ever seen them. “He’s dead. Darner just died. He was flying and then something happened to his wings and he plummeted to his death.” One of them sputtered in a frenzy. The wyrm lay there on the ground, aching from his injuries, knowing that he was next. The void construct had taken his root, his head guard, and now he was next. 

The pale king woke up. His eyelids cracked open he looked around the carriage. Darner and Argustus were sleeping softly with the rolling dunes sitting at rest after hours of them drifting by. The trio of stags that were chosen, a young, energetic stag along with his strong, powerful parents, were resting in a tent they had pitched alongside food, water and a bell to summon darner. The guard had thought it was funny that the stag was the one who was ringing the bell to summon him rather than him ringing the bell to summon a stag, but had not objected at all. He stared out the window at the bright moon in the sky and at all the stars that shone down upon this barren desert wasteland. It comforted him after the dream he just had, seeing his queen right beside him. Having calmed down, the king headed back to sleep. 

The lord of shades grabbed hornet with its arm as it flung and slammed her around like a child with a toy. He treated her and all the others like dolls. Darner stood there and watched as they were flung around helplessly. Darner stood and stared, unable to do anything. He stood high up on a ledge from what he could see. He adjusted his posture slightly to find that he was not sitting on a ledge, but rather was the size of the shade lord. He stepped forward, unflinching as he kept his gaze on the being. It suddenly shifted its sight to him as they began to look eye to eye. Darner drew his sword and shield and prepared for battle. He swung his blade at the lord of shades, causing it to drop the bugs it held in its grasp. Darner caught them in his shield before they hit the ground and let them slide safely to the dust. The massive wyrm bashes the entity with his shield so it would slide backwards away from the kingdom. He slashed at it with his nail of void and darted around it in circles. It lashed it’s long rope of shadows at him, causing darner to block. “My kingdom... you are scum who have colonized this land... you shall fade into oblivion In suffering...” it said. “And you?” Darner retorted defiantly. He cut and cut until it began to fade into oblivion. He looked around him as he heard a sound from the ashen landscape. “Not quite used to seeing others of my height. This is a representation of inner confidence, isn’t it. I don’t mean to point out the obvious or anything, but rather to warn you of the dangers that can come from being overconfident. Not that I don’t believe in you.” Said a booming voice echoing from behind him. Over the dusty land, a vessel drew near. He was the same size as darner and had 4 spikes atop his head. They looked... familiar. The gargantuan vessel came closer and closer, as it quietly chuckled to itself. “Hallownest may be in peril, but I will protect you. I’ll be there to help Meadowhawk solve what has been happening to the vessels, don’t worry about him. Rest up, you have a long journey ahead of you. You can save hallownest once again, I know it.” The massive being spoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here I’ll be taking a short break from kinseeker 2 while I write another hollow knight fic, but rest assured the next chapter is alive and well


	5. Abyssal horrors

Meadowhawk sat at the kitchen table, eating his dinner, a warm bowl of tick, flea and mite stew with juicy mosquito bites. Asper sat beside him, chowing down on some honey marinated maggots. The sauce got all over the Aspid’s shell, causing it to become sticky. It was lonely, just the two of them. String was supposed to come by but nobody had seen him since the festival. Tomorrow he would get to go to the white palace for weaver eggs, at least. It was something that felt strange and gross at first, but it was something that felt natural for bugs to do. They   
weren’t going to hatch, anyway. Everything went smoothly

Then it happened

All of a sudden, He began to feel an uneasy warmth creep up his body and felt like he was ready to vomit. Grating buzzing and static filled his ears mixed with melodic chants in a language he didn’t understand. Images had began to flood his mind. The royal family’s mangled corpses in a room spattered with blood, the aftermath of a horrific slaughter leaving eviscerated bodies strewn about, a vessel with a mindless gaze staring at him, the pale king weakened and dying, covered in blood surrounded by a crowd seemingly bent on beating the life out of him. Interspersed were more chaotic images of violent scenes which did not seem to have as much of a pattern to them that he could comprehend. 

He fell out of his chair and scrambled backwards, crashing into a desk. The music player began to play a song, which at first brought him back to reality. He remembered that Darner had a similar experience. 

That train of thought was soon stopped, as the mere mention of darner once again conjured images of him and those he had sworn to protect mutilated or in agony. Viscous jet black blood dripped onto the floor from his cuts. Images flashed before his eyes. The void lab slick with the crimson liquid. Empty shells soaked with bodily fluids. What was happening? He heard voices speak, “you can’t be friends with a vessel. They’re like a machine, cold and uncaring.” “Shall we dump you and forget, or should we perhaps remember you for the mistakes that you made so many of?” “Watch out for the vessels. Something with no mind is likely to be a savage beast. They can kill without remorse and won’t hesitate to do so.” More images flashed before his eyes. The wyrm coughing up blood while laying on the floor, hornet beaten and bruised badly. 

The scenes began to become more abstract hellscapes. Rivers of blood, glades of death, hellish abysses. He tried to scream but couldn’t manage. Noises began to echo from beyond the screen of otherworldly scenery. He bumped the wall, causing Lurien’s mask to fall down, it’s landing cushioned by his soft body. 

A grating creak was followed up by footsteps. A charred corpse with it’s flesh rent and melded flashed before his eyes as he slowly felt more and more faint. Screams echoed around him as tremors came from beneath his feet. Images of mangled bodies and flesh and bones amalgamated into abominations that screeched and sobbed. He felt hands grasp him, causing him to begin to squirm. 

“It’s okay”, he heard from a familiar voice. He felt them get up and carry him to the couch. They lay him down and put their hand on their head. His vision slowly returned to reveal Judas, a sentry who was very loyal to Darner. He had been training in the barracks. The training room was just through the spectators room and so he could be heard as he was pulled under by whatever force that had conjured up those images. “Wh-what happened?” Judas asked, prompting Meadowhawk to explain. Both were equally as confused as to what might’ve happened. Could it really have been Darner, the one who he trusted most? Who else could it have been...

Later that night, Meadowhawk tossed and turned in his bed. He couldn’t feel comfortable physically nor mentally. He didn’t require sleep, but he could and it helped pass the time and refreshed his mind for what was to come. As he toiled, a voice washed over him. It sounded imposing and yet calm and soft. It seemed somehow familiar. 

“Meadowhawk... I know what has happened to you has put all that you know to the test, but it is not what you suspect. There is foul play afoot. No doubt those crooks would will to give everyone else those same suspicions you heeded, and it could very well cause chaos and discord amongst the kingdom. You heeded those thoughts, so doubtless others would as well.”

“Who are you?” Meadowhawk returned. “I am Deus. On the outside I’m no more than another vessel, albeit at their full potential, a rare sight. I, however, am undoubtedly one of the most powerful higher beings to have existed. 

String opened his eyes. He was in a large cubic tank made of glass with a grated lid. Both the walls and ceiling of the box were constructed in several layers. It was around twice his height tall and wide. On the floor was a layer of cold water. He got up from the corner he awoke in and crawled to the other side. He appeared to be on a desk in along the wall of some sort of laboratory. From one side he could see some of the other vessels from around hallownest. They were all there. All of them except Meadowhawk, at least. Some of his friends were chained up out in the open. Others were kept in cages or tanks. Azure was there as well. A group of bugs clad in hoods and masks. They began to gather together in discussion about something. “Maybe we should blame the disappearances on the pale king and all. That’d handle others suspicions and it might get them what they deserve...”


End file.
